Monday, April 11, 2016

VON, "WHATS A GARAGE?"


"Von, what's a garage?" I struggled with that one! How do you explain a garage to those who don't have garages, or for that matter have never seen a garage? Any way that you try and explain it, it sounds rather silly.

Something a gringo might think up.

I tried to explain this phenomenon. "Well, a garage is a house for a car." Miguel thought on that for a moment. "You mean you don't park your car on the street?" "Well, no, we build a little house for them and we call them garages." The boy looked puzzled. "Do you have a little house for your car?" By now I was feeling a little awkward as I looked down their dirt road noting several old parked cars, most of which didn't run. No indeed there were no garages in the barrio. "Yes, I replied." Miguel walked away trying to figure out why gringo's build houses for their cars. I didn't want to compound the issue by telling him that some times we build car houses big enough for two or three cars.

I have a small house. I have a small garage and of course I have a small car. This evening, as I drove into my garage, I looked at it a little differently ... My small garage is about the size of Miguel's little shack where he, his mother and sisters live. It's all in how you look at it.

Miles away, worlds apart thinking.